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Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Boston is definitely in the house with this one! Price Stylez has a crazy flow that will have you hanging on each and every word on his latest single "NC-17", smoothly produced by Jakk Wonders. This is the first single from the upcoming "BlackMassEP" so be sure to stay tuned for that because at least to me this is the type of Hip Hop shit I love to blast with the volume turned way the fuck up! NC-17 by Price Stylez

In case Price Stylez is new to you be sure to check out his excellent 2015 project "Masterpiece Theater: The Mixtape Vol. 1" where he gets busy over a selection of classic beats and a few originals. I got a feeling this cat is about to blow... just you wait!

Producer and emcee Tokyo Cigar has been a dedicated friend of me and The Lost Tapes blog for years and we worked together with Mal Moe on "The Uprising" (check that out if you've been sleeping). Tokyo has a great ear for dope sounds, and is heavily influenced by the Hip Hop he grew up around, which gives his music a Golden Age touch without sounding outdated or rehashed as he incorporates different styles, instrumentations and samples that gives his special brand of East Coast tinged boom bap a unique vibe that's unmistakably his own. As I mentioned up top, Tokyo is a friend, but trust me when I say that I wouldn't post his stuff unless I thought it was of very high quality, and whatever he drops usually are.

The latest project he's been working on is producing the album "Organically Grown" for Maryland duo Tribe Of Judah, and it is a heavy hitter to say the least. The current line-up of the group are emcees Sincere and La Sin and the album is completely produced by Tokyo Cigar. Around 2014 Tokyo was working on an album with Hell Razah (which sadly remains unreleased although a couple of those joints can be heard on "The Uprising") and it was Razah who suggested Tokyo hook up with Tribe since he knew them and liked what they were doing, as well as they all being from Maryland he figured it could make for some great music, which it certainly did. The group originally begun as a 5 man unit but has been paired down to Sincere and La Sin since a few years back. "Organically Grown" is actually their official debut album. The last producer they worked with before was Black Jeruz and they have worked with Wu Syndicate and even had meetings with RZA and others of the Wu Elementz. Considering how smashing their new LP is it will most deifnitely be interesting to see what the future holds for this skilled group.

As Tokyo tells it about the creation of the album: "Sincere and I linked up and began building then we
met and choppd it up about the album. I made beats and and went back and
changed stuff a couple of times. Then they came to the crib and we recorded the whole thing. I sat on it for a few months then changed a
few things and did the final tweaks and mixing then BOOM thats the album
haha".. So there you have it, press play and let the hardcore beats and well written and well spoken rhymes wash over you. And be sure to keep an eye open for more material from The Tribe in a near future.Released independently through Tokyo's own Gravity Academy imprint, which means you can purchase a High Quality download through his Bandcamp and you can of course also stream it befor you hit the purchase button... TURN IT UP!!

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Following up my article on the merits of RZA's 1998 solo debut "In Stereo" on GeeStreet/V2, I decided to put together a compilation highlighting the transforation of Bobby Steels to Bobby Digital on wax as we was able to hear it. As I mentioned in the article, although it might have sounded like that to many of us at the time, the stripped down sound of RZA's digitized orchestra wasn't born out of thin ear but was something The Abbot was slowly perfecting deep down in his basement studios, only letting out small pieces at a time for heads to show up before letting the whole album touch down in late '98, following up Method Man's "Tical 2000: Judgement Day" and Cappadonna's "The Pillage". To me it's very close to a personal classic and a stronger LP than either of the aforementioned projects - it is also the only solo album by RZA that I think really shows how dope he really is as an artist. The close-to-sample free sonic enviroment created through a multiplex of keyboards and synthesizers that could come close to the sound of a 19 piece orchestra. A brilliant mix of the digital and the analog, and to top it all off it was a well put together concept album - telling the story of the superhero Bobby Digital and his struggles in the Americna ghetto. As "Wu-Tang Forever" and songs like "Sunshower" pointed our RZA was preparing an intense project full of wisdom and knowledge with lyrics touching on politics, 5% and Nation of Islam teachings, the art of war, and spirituality. This album was to be titled "The Cure" and has today taken on almost mythical proportions as the rapping producer realized he wasn't in the right mindstate to proudce such an important lyrical masterpiece. Instead he created the persona of Bobby Digital, mixing his own hectic upbring in the '70s and '80s with blaxploatation flicks and comic books in the creation of his very own superhero. In the masked character of Bobby Digital he was able to indulge in full misoginy, weapon fetishes, violence, drugs, and over the top movie scenarios.

85 percent of the LP was produced by RZA hismelf, with the exception of Inspectah Decks excellent, mystic Portishead sampling "Kiss Of A Black Widow" and the interlude "Airwaves" which really is RZA's verse stricty lifted from the Wake Up Show Anthem '99 twelve inch - the linear notes mistakenly credit King Tech as the prodcuer of "Love Jones" which is most likely wrong. RZA got a special, kind of ruff and rugged voice so he sure needs several guests and not too long a running time to create a poewerful vibe that never let the listener lose interest - and "In Stereo" is a front-to-back materpiece as long as you lose the four bonus tracks at the end.

Not couning the music on "Wu-Tang Forever" (where he first started using the digitial orchestra) there is at least 10 songs that is increasingly Bobby Digital joints, starting with the Hide-Out Remix to Method Man's "The Riddler" from 1996 and ending with "Cakes" by Bobby Digital and Kool Rap. Grab it below for a nice bite size of Bobby Digi Digi..

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the music available on this site is solely for promotional purposes only and no retail albums will be posted unless they are out-of-print. if you feel something is in violation of the copyright law, please contact me and I will delete the post immediatly.